Reassurance
by Uninspired Author
Summary: It's easiest finding comfort in those who you can relate to... Mild 2796


**AN: Alright new story, though it's KHR this time and not Detective Conan. To be honest I've been out of practice, and this series, I haven't written for so I don't have a good feel of the characters. There's probably a load of grmatical errors, but it can't be helped, I rushed this today because I'm getting finals and all for my trimester at school, and I doubt I'll have time to write at the point of time, so I'll edit this sometime later. I just didn't want this idea to fade, so I kept it fresh and tried to get it done. Anyways on to the story…**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, should be self-explanatory, moving on… **

They seemed so peaceful. Chrome Dokuro silently sighed, as her eye remained fixated on the mesmerizing ceiling. It had been well past an hour since the Vongola group stumbled their way in, tended to each other's wounds, and then dropped onto their cots to rest.

Kyoko, Haru, and I-Pin snored softly and for a moment, the Guardian of Mist watched their slow, peaceful breathing perhaps hoping the effect would carry over towards her. No such luck. Returning her back to its original position again, Chrome continued to stare at the ceiling looking for the patterns that had left the deepest impression in her memory. No doubt the others on the other side of their emergency headquarters were sleeping just as peacefully.

The previous battle had been taxing, nearly resulting in defeat, but they managed to live as she had used her tricks to cover their escape. They had been awfully fortunate, and the memory of what had transpired several hours earlier was discomforting. The more she thought over it, the more unsettled she felt.

'_You need to get some rest; the illusion required a lot of energy. You're drained, and it's quite obvious you won't be able to pull to do much for the others if you don't recover.' _came some rational voice that whispered those words in the back of her mind. She knew it was right, but she was unable to do so.

Her mind had already returned to what was troubling her. Aside from covering their escape upon the Boss's request, she had barely done anything in the chaotic battle. Even that small task was enough to reduce Chrome to her knees, forcing the Boss himself to carry the burden of supporting her as they ran for their lives. Worse he had suffered more wounds than her, and taken a much more severe beating. Even though she had played the smallest role, she was as exhausted as they were. It was the only time Mukuro was not present to take over, or someone equally as knowledgeable wasn't there to guide, and because of that she was utterly useless.

It was then that the covers suddenly became too hot, as if it was scorching her skin. The soft cot she was lying on suddenly seemed as if it could not support her weight, it felt more like as if she were being swallowed or drowning. The silence was horribly deafening and the darkness itself did nothing to make her sleep easier, but rather forced her awake. There was no peace here. The relaxing atmosphere had turned into something that resembled torture instead.

She kicked off the comforter in an instant, and fumbled for her trident, which rested against the right side of her bed. The sudden urge to leave made itself known, while the need to leave this confined area became nearly unbearable for each passing second. There was a longing for the fresh air, the noises outside and the dim, but consistent and reliable streetlights to guide her down her path.

She gently pushed herself off the bed and crept towards the door. She was cautious not to wake her roommates. I-pin however, stirred slightly as Chrome's hand twisted the knob. The illusionist froze, holding her breath, but the martial artist did not give any indication she was awake, and after several seconds of silence, it was clear her friend was still asleep. Sighing in relief, Chrome exited the room before gently closing the door behind her.

The area, much like the room she had rested in, was utterly silent with the exception of her soft footsteps. As she neared the exit, she cast a glance at the clock nailed near the door. It was well past midnight, she would be exhausted later, but she needed to clear her thoughts, or have time to ponder over things she reasoned. Not wasting another moment, Chrome Dokuro gently pushed open the door and stepped into the world outside.

It was cold… No cold was an understatement, the word freezing was more of an appropriate choice, but she welcomed it like a long, lost friend as it pushed past her roughly upon their encounter. The sense of freedom it granted made it much more appealing rather than the cramped atmosphere of the makeshift quarters.

The streets were unoccupied, and so Chrome found herself wandering around aimlessly, allowing her body to guide her towards whatever destination it desired. It was only when she realized that the buildings had vanished that she found herself in the park. It was quite different from what it appeared to be in the morning. It was interesting how much of an impact night and day had on things she mused as she ventured deeper.

Her vision was quite limited, however as she made her way deeper in to park. The ground beneath her indicated that she had strayed from the paved off path. It was impossible to see where she was going, so she allowed the ground to be her informant, and soon she found herself walking down on the carved out path.

The mist here limited her vision greatly… The mist…. what she was supposed to represent, what she was the Guardian of. Her duty was to protect, to give her life and successfully ensure the safety of the Boos. _'You've been unable to fulfill that role,'_ part of her noted and it was painfully true, _'Despite how kind your 'Boss' is do you really believe he'll tolerate a setback? Someone who'll just endanger and burden his friends even further?'_

She shook not from the cold, but because of how true those words were. Even so the Boss had accepted her, allowed her to fight and- _'Kindness that is considered ordinary. Your luck has been holding quite well considering all the overwhelming odds. Each enemy becomes stronger and stronger, sooner or later you will fall because the challenge is too great for you, or worse the others will die because of you.'_

There it was again, the truth, the truth that stung with just as much pain as the initial blow dealt to her. She choked back a sob as her hands shook. Desperately she attempted to grip her weapon, her hands however were unable to. _'Mukuro-sama is much more fit to take the position. It was already made clear you were sought out because you were the only choice in order to call for his aid. You've never been able to be use on your own have you?"_

Her trident fell to the floor as she lost her grip on it. The sound of it loudly it clattering to floor sliced through the thick atmosphere of silence. What could bring peace also brought torment. She squeezed her eye shut, as she slowly fell to her knees and felt her hands against the hard concrete.

Those words, they had been nearly identical to the ones that her counterpart had used to taunt her. The feeling of isolation she had always felt interfiled, it was always. Whether it was because she was less useful compared to the others or because none any of her comrades embraced her like a close friend or both didn't matter.

Her misery however, was put on hold. Instinct and reflexes snapped her into action. Her right hand instantly reached for the trident as she pushed herself up with her left. She stood ready, while footsteps grew steadily louder.

The enemy? No. She had covered their escape, and Tsuna had mentioned that only Reborn and a select few knew of their emergency safe house. She debated over the possibility of running, but it would be pointless considering the opposing force would be on her in an instance. Better to catch the person off guard with an illusion while she could.

The person was drawing closer, close enough to where she could make out the person's outline, which in turn caused her to hesitate. Chrome frowned as she lowered her weapon. Slightly. It would have made much more sense if the person had attacked when she was off guard, and if they did approach her head on, it would have made more much more sense if the person just charged her.

It seemed the person wasn't expecting her either because he or she froze as well. A moment of silence, based on what she could see, it was evident the person was considering the choice between a confrontation or to retreat. Ten seconds of silence passed…. twenty…thirty…. forty…. fifty…a minute. Chrome found herself holding her breath as she waited. The two of them stood rooted to their positions, unable to move.

Finally, the person spoke breaking the silence, "Whose there?"

A male speaker, he sounded much more afraid than aggressive, and to her surprise it belonged to someone she knew. "Boss?" Chrome asked hesitantly, she didn't lower her trident though. It would have been foolish to do so?

"Chrome? Thank goodness, I thought it was the other family," Tsuna sighed in relief as he stepped out of the shadows. He wasn't an illusion, she realized. Sighing herself, the illusionist turned the blade away from her leader.

He didn't even consider the possibility of her being an illusion. A second later it struck her that his hyper intuition wouldn't have allowed him to be fooled so easily. "Boss," she began as he stopped in front of her, "what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I wanted to ask you the same thing," a look of genuine surprise was on his face at her appearance, but it didn't interfere with his response, "I actually couldn't really sleep, and I needed to walk off some of my troubles. What about you?"

She nodded slowly before speaking, "I'm here for the same reason Boss."

"Anyways the two of us should head back, the others might find us missing and worry over it," he said with a nervous laugh. There was hardly any movement in his body, but she understood the language and the message it conveyed. He was uncomfortable around her, most likely because she acted as Mukuro-sama's host. In other words, he was afraid that she would turn on him at any moment seeing as his friends weren't near. She was used to reading these messages, after all, it served as an indicator to let her know when people didn't want her around. She merely nodded as they began to make their way back towards the base.

"It's not that," he stated simply after they had walked for a minute. She blinked in surprise at his sudden statement, and so she waited for him to elaborate.

"Well maybe a bit," he admitted, but continued, "It's just that I never really wanted to be the Tenth and being treated as one, or being called something similar feels uncomfortable sometimes," he said.

"Oh," was all she could say in response.

"Gokudera-kun doesn't get it though," he said with a hint of exasperation before turning to face her as they continued walking, "I'd like it better if people would just stop associating me with a mafia boss."

Meaning he didn't want the name 'Boss' either, but even so he still was Vongola's tenth. He had demonstrated power and characteristics that earned him that title despite his feeling towards it. "I still feel more comfortable by calling you Boss," she said softly, "but if you really don't want me to-"

"Ah, I mean I don't like it, but you don't have to force yourself to change," he said hastily, while waving his hands in an exaggerated manner as he spoke, "It's just that I don't really fit…."

He stopped, and looked down towards the ground. His gaze was directed to the floor, "to be a leader, if I become useless when I'm my own and watch others to get hurt."

She stopped in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued, avoiding her gaze, "It's just that I always rely on Reborn, or someone else to guide me during important situations. That's really not what a leader is supposed to be. A leader's supposed to be independent, and he needs to be brave and able to take charge when battles or conflicts occur, like what happened earlier today."

"Even when they aren't around, it's not really me fighting. I'm more of a coward, and I always rely on the dying will bullets from Reborn or the pellets Basil has. When I'm in that state, it's not really me battling on my own. I'm not independent or useful on my own like Gokudera, Yammamoto, Onii-san Hibari-san, or you," he finished, there was a quality of bitterness in his voice, no it sounded more like regret.

She paused, shocked at his words, moreover that she regarded her as someone useful; "Boss, that's not true though, you're the one who fixes everything when we need you most" she began.

He shook his head, "I change when that happens because when if it's really me, everyone would be dead."

She shook her head furiously upon that statement, "You're still you Boss, you just," she paused contemplating the right words to be used, "awaken the potential that you have for a moment when it's needed because it's too early for it to fully show itself all the time."

He paused before speaking slowly, "If it hadn't been for you, we would have all died during that fight. Without Reborn or someone to guide me, I just can't seem to make the right choices to keep everyone safe from danger. Even when he's with us, I'm still unable to do much in my dying will mode either."

"You do keep us safe," she protested, "it's just that sometimes the enemy is too strong, and it's inevitable someone will get hurt. If anything, it's my fault you have to work so hard, if I were as strong as Mukuro-sama, I might be able to be of much more use!"

Her exclamation caught his attention instantly, and she realized herself that her own bitter words had escaped her mouth. The gaze that was now fixated on her held the same amount of intensity as the one during his dying will phase. It was her turn to look away and speak softly, "If Mukuro-sama was free and he was directly here to help you instead of using me as a host, the team would be a lot stronger."

He didn't say anything, she could still feel his gaze upon her, and so she continued, "I always fail and I need to Mukuro-sama to fill in for me in order to win or to live. I can't fight, like he can, and I'm only useful when I'm supporting you in the back, not in the front like a true Guardian should."

"That's why," she finally mustered the will power to face him, "Maybe it's a good plan to rescue Mukuro-sama and have him take my place."

The expression displayed his inability to register her words, so she continued, "It's not you Boss. I'm the weakest link out of us, and everyone regards Mukuro-sama as the true Guardian of the Mist, it'd be better if he were freed, so you could all stand a chance, and have a better chance at fighting the others."

"I already knew," her voice shook as tears began to flow out of her eye, "that I wasn't really meant to be a guardian anyway, it was because of my connection him that made me take this position, but I promise I'll try harder for the time I'm still the guardian and die if it means I'll be-"

Her words were cut off and put to a halt as he drew her into a reassuring embrace. She sobbed even harder at this, the feeling of this particular acceptance was overwhelming, "Chrome," Tsuna began placing his hands gently on her shoulders, with a comforting smile, "You're not useless, you've helped me when we in the future, you were willing to fight during for the rings when I was fighting the Varia, and more importantly you saved mine and everyone's lives today. Isn't that what your job is?"

There really want anything for her to say, as she continued to speak, "You've helped me on your own free will, and I appreciate it a lot. You deserve of being the Guardian of the Mist," he fixed looked at her displaying a much more serious demeanor causing her to blush, "If I was back in the past, I would still choose you as my Mist Guardian, not because you're linked with Mukuro, but because you've proven to be a great friend and ally."

"I…." she started before a lump in throat robbed her of the ability to speak, and her eye began to fill with tears at his answer.

"You don't need to prove anything to me Chrome," Tsuna said while smiling warmly, "Your death would make the victory in the battles pointless. After all, what's the point in a victory if a loss of a friend is included?"

She nodded and on impulse embraced him tightly not caring how he would respond. Tsuna stiffened in surprise before the heat began to rise to his cheeks, but he returned the gesture. His head rested on hers while she rested hers against his chest. They stood there for an unknown amount of time before he finally spoke awkwardly while breaking through the silence, "Um…we should probably head back before they really start to panic."

She opened her eye and withdrew with him a twinge of reluctance and longing clung to her and grew for every step they took away from each other. It felt so nice to be accepted …

The rest of the walk from the park to the base was in silence; neither of the two was willing to look at each other or was daring enough to make an effort to speak. As they reached the entrance to the female side of the quarters however, Tsuna placed his on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Chrome…uh…how do I say this…" he stammered, it was apparent he was having a hard time searching for the correct words, "If you're worried about something, that you can't really share with others, you can talk to me…no that's not what I meant…I mean if you have something troubling you, don't hesitate to talk to me, though I'm sure Kyoko-chan, Haru and I-pin are better suited for that. "

The blue-haired girl nodded, before bowing her head slightly. A small smile was present when she returned his gaze causing him to flush again, "Would it be alright if I talked to you too? It's just that…Reborn and Hibari-san are quite unsympathetic, and I don't think the others would get it either even if they tried. It's just that, there's something about you that I can relate to."

"Of course Boss," she said feeling heat rise to her cheeks as well, no doubt her face was going to become equally as red as Tsuna's.

"Alright then, get some rest, we have to figure out what to do tomorrow," Tsuna laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly when he realized how close he was to her.

Chrome hadn't seemed to register this until she saw the expression on his face, "Thank you for supporting me…. Boss."

Though feeling just as embarrassed, she quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips to cheek for a moment before she drew away. He would have made a loud exclamation of surprise if it wouldn't have scared everyone and cause a lot of commotion.

His reaction was similar to the one he had during their first meeting (though suppressed this time). Her action to show her appreciation was the same as well. The area where her lips made contact with his skin might have been the same place too. Whether or not it didn't matter. Tsuna stared, in a dazed fashion as he watched as Chrome step through the door and into her quarters before he departed, the small, beautiful smile still present.

Tsuna lost track of how long he had stood, there, but he forced himself to start moving. There was much to think about, things that involved the battle of course….and…he cast an involuntary glance at the door she had opened and entered through. Despite his still burning cheeks (That might have been hotter than the flames his dying will produced), he smiled as he silently entered his quarters. Everyone else was still asleep.

Tomorrow would bring much harder challenges and trials, but there was no worry or fear. Something that resembled a calm outlook had appeared instead. Whereas it had been hard to sleep earlier, it was now harder to keep his eyes open for each passing second. He felt at peace, there was someone who he grew closer to, someone he could rely on. Tsuna smiled. His last thought before his eyes closed was whether or not Chrome felt the same way, and then sleep overtook him.

**AN: How did I do? Reviews would be appreciated if you could take the time. **


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